DTM: One-two victory for Mercedes-Benz at Norisring.

DTM: One-two victory for Mercedes-Benz at Norisring.

Second race, second victory.

Second race, second victory for the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team during season highlight at the Norisring in Nuremberg. After Mercedes-AMG took the top four positions in the first race on Saturday, Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM) and Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM) achieved a one-two win in the second race of the weekend. Wickens achieved his third victory in the DTM and his second on the Bavarian street circuit in front of 123,000 spectators who came through the gates this weekend. For Mercedes-Benz, this was their 13th victory at the Norisring since 2003. Five out of six possible podiums in all were taken by the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team this weekend. A strong team result for the brand with the star was rounded off by Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM), Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM), Gary Paffett (EURONNICS Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM) and Daniel Juncadella (PETRONAS Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM), who finished fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. The Austrian Lucas Auer (BWT Mercedes-AMGC 63 DTM) was one of the leading group of drivers in the first stint of the race.

He served a 5-second penalty and then fought his way back up during the rest of the race after his pit stop to place ninth. So, seven of the eight Mercedes-AMG drivers finished in the points. His home race ended prematurely for DTM rookie Maximilian Götz (Mercedes AMG-DTM C 63). He retired with a radiator problem after a contact in the early stages.

Incredibly fast car.

Robert Wickens, P1: “What a race! I got off to a good start and moved up from third to second. After that, I was faster than Bruno ahead of me and managed to overtake him as well. Over the years, we’ve always been strong at the Norisring, but this weekend, we’ve had an incredibly fast car in all conditions. Second yesterday and first today: this has been a great weekend for me and the whole team.”

Proud of the team.

Christian Vietoris, P2: “I’m really proud of the team. We were very strong in qualifying, both yesterday and today in a variety of conditions. In the race, I managed to pull out a gap between myself and Mattias Ekström. Unfortunately, I lost a bit of time on Robert during the pit stop. All the same, I’m very pleased to standing on the podium. We had a strong car for the whole of the weekend.

What goes for Robert also goes for me: fourth yesterday and second today. The bottom line is that it was a great weekend for me.”

Not totally satisfied.

Pascal Wehrlein, P5: “After yesterday’s win, I’m not totally satisfied with fifth position. It was difficult to get past the drivers ahead of me because we all had DRS and we were all effectively holding each other up. So we then went with another strategy and pitted early. Unfortunately, the tyre needs two laps on this track before it is properly up to temperature and runs faster. But then the other drivers took their pit stops immediately after me, which meant that I lost touch. Towards the end, I was able to match their lap times, but the time differences are so minimal on this track that it’s difficult to close a gap of that size.”

Good pace.

Paul Di Resta, P6: “I had a really good pace today and felt very comfortable with the car. But once you get into a bit of a train of cars it’s quite hard to overtake and there wasn’t much chance to make an impact. If I’d qualified a bit further up then who knows.

Our strategy worked well in the race and I at least made up a couple of places from where I started. I leave here with mixed emotions but it’s points on the board and I’m looking forward to Zandvoort.”

Very good start.

Gary Paffett, P7: “P11 on the grid was not exactly what we wanted. We wanted to be further up like we were yesterday. I made a very good start and had a very good first corner. I went on the outside and gained four positions at Turn One. I was just behind Spengler when we came to pit, but we had a slow stop, unfortunately. When we came out, Paul jumped in front of me and Spengler was a long way in front. We had a hard drive, trying to catch the guys up front. In the end, I managed to catch Pascal and Paul again but it was a bit late to do anything.

Slightly disappointing, but P7 means more points. After the podium yesterday, it’s been generally a good weekend.”

Good race.

Daniel Juncadella, P8: “It was a good race. My start was perfect and I moved up two places. Running through the first turn, though, I went on the inside and was then overtaken by three cars on the outside. After that, I was in eleventh place and scrapping with Jamie Green. So, we decided to make a pit stop earlier than scheduled. That worked well. My pace was good and the car felt great. I’m pleased with my result and, of course, our superb team performance this weekend.”

First points.

Lucas Auer, P9: “Despite everything, that was a super race. I got off to an incredible start and immediately overtook Mattias Ekström. After that, my pace was very good. Unfortunately, I was handed a five-second penalty which more or less ruined my race. But towards the end, I drove a good race against Jamie Green and Maxime Martin. So from that perspective, I’m well satisfied with the day.

I’ve now scored my first points, and I’ll be delighted if it carries on in this way.”

Chain reaction.

Maximilian Götz, retired: “My start was quite good. I kept my position. Things were very tight while braking down into Turn 1. Everyone braked very late and I took a hit on the off-side. That’s not meant to sound like an excuse, course not, but it made me brake very late. I didn’t expect a big traffic jam to develop in front of me.

I then stood on the brakes really hard, but it was probably a bit too late and I ran into Timo Glock's car, triggering a chain reaction. That was a great pity. Of course, I thought my home race weekend would be very different. A lot more should have been possible today.”

Perfect weekend.

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM: “We’ve just had the most perfect weekend at the Norisring, and I’d like to thank the whole team for that. After what happened at Lausitzring, this result comes as a huge relief. And obviously we are delighted that our successful run of entering the best-placed driver at the Norisring continues.”